Dehydrating apparatus.



PATBNTED NOV. 26. 1907.

' P. T. STARE.

'DEHYDRATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21- 1907.

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' I T STARE.

DEHYDRATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1907.

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PATENTED NOV. 26, 1907 a sums-sum s.

No. s7 2,o26.

I. T. STARE.

DBHYDRATING APPARATUS.

RPIJULTIOI FILED XL! 21, 1907.

b IIIIIIIII llllllllll i as ""45 detailed description taken in connection wit UNlTED STAT-Es FRANK TEhlPEST STARE, OF WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN DEHYDRATING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

. DE EYDBATING APPARATUS.

. Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 1907.

To all whom it may concern." Belt known that I FRANK TEMPEST STAKE, a citizen of the Llnited States residing at Waukesha, in the county of Waut kesha and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dehydrating Apparatus, of which the follow in isaspemfication:

y invention relates to apparatus for desamsists inthe construction and arrangement, .4 combination, of a chamber in which the material to be treated is placed, and means for maintainin a constant circulation of air, through said chamber, through a condenser, and through 'an air drier, in which two latter apparatus the moisture extracted y the air from the material is wholly or partially removed therefrom.

hiy'invention further consists in the combination of the several individual apparatus, 'ust mentioned, with a valve mechanism in which the direction of flow of the air through the deh drating chamber can be reversed, when esired, without thereby changing the direction of the flow of air in the remainder of the plant; such reversal results in a more erfect dehydration than can be obtained w en the flows constantly in the same direction. My invention further consists in the combination with the dehydrating chamber of a fan or blower which draws the air from said chamber, a condenser and a pair of air driers through one of which, at a time, the air from the condenser is passed, to re enter the dehydrating chamberl v Means are provided, as will be hereafter ,further described, to apply heat to that one being passed.

The construction and arrangement of the various parts of the ap aratus referred to,

will be better understoo from the followin the accompanying 3 sheetsv of drawings, in

which,

Figure 1, is a plan view of the complete lan t, the air driers being shown in section. 2, is a transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a transverse section taken on the line 3-3, of Fig. 2. F;g.'-4, is a plan view, partly in section, of

theright-hmd end ofthe dehydrating chamhydrating food substances and the like, andof the driers through which the air is not.

. her in Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is an end view of the condenser and the driers, the flue leadingback to the dehydrating chamber being shown in section and, Fig. 6, is a cross section taken on the line 66, of Fig. 5.

In these views, the dehydrating chamberas a whole is indicated by 1,-the seine consisting of a long tunnel 2, containing tracks 3, on which run cars 4, carryin the trays, 5, containing the materialto be treated. In said chamber, above said tunnel, is an air flue 6, running the entire length of the chamber, and beneath said tunnel there is a flue 7, the to and floor of the tunnel being provided wit apertures 8, for the passage of the air into and out of the lines 6 and -7. Said apertures as shown are rec-' tangular in shape, and preferably flare tm ward the tunnel, as shown in F i s. 2 and 4, for the purpose of better distributing the air through the material. ,75

Alongside of flue 7 runs a flue 9, which 1 opens into said flue at the ends thereof, and is connected at its center by a pipe 10 with the valve casing 12, to be described. Flue 6 communicates with the 11 per part of said casing 12, by a pipe 11, w 'c-h enters said flue 6 at its center.

The valve casing 12, most clearly shown in Fig. 3, has the flues 10, and 11, running from v the dehydratin chamber, entering it vertically above eac other at its center. From the rear end of said casing there run two conduits 13 and 14, leading to or from the other apparatus, which constitutes the lant, as wi be later more fully describe These two conduits cormnunicatc with the casing near its bottom, and at the sides thereof. In the center of the casing is pivoted at- 15 for vertical oscillation, a valve 16, which in the sition shown in Fig; 3 puts the ipe 11, mto communication with the con mt 14, and the pipe l0'into communication with the conduit 13. When the valve 16 is swung .into its other position, shown in dottedlines in Fig. 3, pipe 11,'is in communication withthe conduit 13, and pipe 10 with conduit ,14. Y

The conduit 13 leads to the fan or blower 15', and the air drawn by said fan from said conduit passes by flue 16', u into and throu h a condenser 17, consisting of a .se-flos rice 0 coils of pipe through which a cooling medium' circulates trorn a Afterpassing through refrirator 18.;- said PATENT onnroa.

'from l-hl dnltwdrating chamber.

air passes'vertically upward through a chimney 1S), communicating at its top with a transverse flue :20, containing a valve 21, similar to the valve 16, above described, and communicating at its ends with the upper portions of two air driers 24 and 25, w u'ch comprise a series of superimposed receptacites 26, containing cal um-chlorid or other moisture-absorbing substance.

The details of construction of the airdriers and of the chlorid receptacles do not constitute a part of the resent invention, and therefore need not specifically described herein, it being sullicient to state that the air in its assage down through the driers is all {erect to come in contact with the moisture absorbing substance in the ree'eptacles, so that when it issues attho bottom into the chamber 27, practically all the water left therein. after-its passage through the condenser, has been extracted therefrom. At the bottom of the drier, the air passes into a chamber 27, which communicates with a transverse line 28, which in turn contains a Valve 29, similar to the valves it) and 2i, and

, opens into the llue 14, by which it is returned to the valve-casing l2, and from therebact; to the dehydrating chamber through pipe 10, or pipe 11, according to the position in which the valve ill-is set a. the time.

it will be seen that the valve .21 serves to "threw the air into one or the other of the drieis, 24 or .25, and, as has been stated, the other drier, at this time, is subjected to heatto remove the moisture which was pit-viously taken up thereby from the air coming The heating mead: consists of radiators 1:30 and 3t, lying rcspeetivel under the dricrs 2-1 and 25, in the chaniliers 27, and connected by pipes 32 and 33, respectively, with a furnace or burner 34, said pipes 32 and 33, being provided with valves 35 and 36, whereby the heat from the furnace can be condu--ted to one or the other of the radiators alternately.

Air is forced into the chambers 27 from a blower 38, communicating by pipes 39 and 40,-respect1vely, with said chambers, said pipes having valves 42 and 43 to direct the air into one or the other of said chambers alternately. The pipes 39 and 40 open downwardly into said chambers below the mdiator pipes 30 and 31, as indicated in Fig.

5, so that the air may be thoroughly distributed through said radiator ipes, and be thoroughly heated thereby be ore entering the driers.

'- The outlet for the flames or heated gases, rvlnch pass through the radiators, is throu h stacks 44 and 45, and it will be seen that y this arrangement none of the smoke or prodnets of combustion from the furnace comes into contact with the; air which is used to dry the moisture-absorbing substance in the driers. The air heated by its passage through the radiator pipes passes through the dricr's, and issues from the top then-of into a flue 46, containing a valve 47, and from there into a stack 48.

In the arrangement illustrated, it is the lefthand drier 24 which is active, that is to say, through which the air is passing in 'the circuit containing the deli, drating chainher and condenser, and the right hand drier 25 is being dried by the hot air rising through the same, and all connections between said driers 2'5 and the circuit through which the air being dried is passing, being shut oil b means of the valves 21, 29, and 47, so that there is no danger of any of the hot air being used in the drier 25 coming into contact with the air being dried passing through the drier .24.

It will be seen that the air alwavs passes in the same-direction through conduit 13, fan 15, line 16, condenser 17, chimney l9, and flue 20, andfrom one. or the other drier 24 or 25 into conduit 14, while the direction of the air in the dehydrating chamber can be reversed by oscillating valve 16 so that it either enters from conduit 14 into pipe ll, which enters tlue 6 at the middle of the dehvdrating chamber, or else it goes from conduit 14 into pipe ](),-thcnce into line 9 which communicates with ilue 7 at the ends of the chamhei". The result of this is that the air either enters the line at. the top of the dehydrating chamber at its middle, and leaves the flue at the bottom at its ends, or vice versa, where-- by it is caused to pass through all the materail contained in the tunnel 2.

While I have Sli()\\':'l no means for actuating the various valves, it will be understood that they are either to be manually controlled, or that they can be automatically controlled at definite time intervals.

'l he cars l, are provided on their sides with hinged flap-valves 50, which revent the air from passing between the sir es of the trays and the tunnel, and, when in series in the tunnel, at their ends, so as to prevent the air from passing between the ends of the trays on ad acent cars. Y

The cars are placed in a continuous series in the tunnel, one being removed at one end, when a freshly-loaded car is pushed in at the other end, and are transferred by means of the tracks 51, 1 ing transversely at the ends of the tunnel, to and from the track 52,13-ing on top of flue 9, by means of which they arerun back again to the other end of the tunnel. At a point near the issuing end of the tunnel, a door, not shown, is formed in its side, through which passes the transverse track 53, the purpose of which is to enable a car-to. be run out for the purpose oi inspecting tho material.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim is, i

1. In a ddiydrating apparatus, the combi- .a second nation with a chamber in which the material to'be treat-ed is placed, a condenser and an air drier, of means to maintain a current of air flowing through said chamber, condenser .and drier and means to reverse the direction of the current of air through said chamber.

2. .111 a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a chamber in which the material to be treated is placed, a condenser and an air drier, of means to maintain a currentof air flowing to and from said chamber and through said condenser and drier constantly in the same direction and means to reverse the ilow of air through said chamber.

3. in a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a tunnel to receive the material being treated and having apertures in its roof and floor, of an air-flue running longitudinally along the top thereof and an air-flue runnin ldg'igitudinally along the bottom thereo a pipe communicating with one of said ilues at its center, a second i e communicating with the other of sai ues at its ends, a valve-casing to which said pipes" lead, means to maintain a constant flow of air to and from said casing, and a valve in said casing to cause the air to either enter said tunnel through the airfine at the bottom and issue through the air-flue at the top, or vice versa. I

4. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a tunnel to contain the material to be treated and having in its roof and floor, an air-fine running along above the roof, and an air-flue running along beneath'tihe floor, said air-tines communicating with said tun nel through said apertures, of a valve-casing,-

two air-conduits leading thereto, a moisture extractor, means to maintain a current of air flowing in the same direction from said valvecasing through said moisture-extractor and back to said valve-casing, .1 pipe leading from said casing to the center of one of said flucs, ipe leading from said casing to the hnds of tile other of said ilucs, and a single ivalve in said casing to cause the air to enter either of said pi es, pass through the. tunnel and issue from t he other.

5. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a chamber for the material to be treated, of a condenser, an air-drier, and a valve-casing, means to cause a constant flow ofair in the same direction, from said casing, through said condenser, and drier, and back to said casing, a pi )0. leading from said casing to the top of said chamber, a second pipe leading frcm said casingto the bottom of said chamber, and a single valve in said casing to reverse the direction of the air flowing through said pipes and the chamber.

6. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a dehydrating chamber having line at the top and bottom, communieating with said chamber through its roof I} and floor, respectively, of a valve cusing, a

pipe leading from the top thereof to the upa constant flow of air into said casing throughone of said conduits and out through the other, a valve pivotally mounted in the center of said casing, so as to cause, when in one extreme position, the air from the inlet-conduit to enter the chamber through the upper of said pipes, and issue through the lower of said pipes into the outlet-conduit, and when in the other extreme position, to cause the air from the inlet-conduit to enter the chamher through the lower of said pipes and issue through the upper of said pipes to the outletconduit.

7. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a dehydrating chamber of a pair of air-(triers, means to cause a current- 0 air to flow in a circuit through said chamber and one of said driers means to drive off the moisture from that one of the driers which is temporarily out of the circuit, and means to pcriodically reverse the direction of the current of air through the chamber.

S. In a dehydrating apparatus, nation with a dehydrating chamber, a condenser, and a pair of air-(triers of a blower to draw air through said chamber and force it through said condenser and driers, and means to convey the air back to said chamber, a valve whereby the directionv in which the said air flows through said chamber can be reversed and valves, can be cut out of the circuit.

9. In adehydrating apparatus, the combination of a dehvdrating chamber, a valvecasing connecte to said chamber at its top and bottom, a blower connected to said valve casing, a condenser connected to said blower, a pair of air-driers connected to said condenser and also to said' casing, valves in said last mentioned connection to cut-either one drier or the other out of the circuit and a. valve in said casing to reverse the fiow of the air through said chamber.

. 10. In a dehydrating plant the combination of a dehydrating chamber, a condenser, a pair of air-driers, means to maintain a closed circulation of air through said apparatus in the order named, means to cut one of said driers at a time, out of the circuit, means to drive off the moisture from the drier so cut out, and means to reverse the directions of ilow of the air through said chamber, without reversing the apparatus.

11. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination with a dehydrating chamber of a pair of air-driers, a blower to force 'air from said chamber-t0 said drieis, a valve, to direct the air into one side or the other, of said driers, a conduit leading from the combiwhereby either drier the bottom of saiddr ers back to said chamber, a valve in said conduit to out off either of said driers, a radiator under each drier, means to force air through either of said radiators up through 5 the corresponding driers, a stack connected to both driers and a valve to shut ofl the stack from either of the driersx,

12. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination of a dehydrating chamber compris- 10 ing a tunnel to receive a series of trucks carrying trays for the material to be treated, said tunnel having an air-flue along its to and an air-flue beneath its floor, communieating with the tunnel through apertures in 1,: its top and floor, respectively, a condenser and a pair of drier-s, means to drawair from one of said flues force it through to said condenser and one of said driers, hack to the other of said fines, means to change the direetion of iiow of the air between said fines 20 and means to alternately cut-out one of sai air driers and means to supply heated air the drier so cut out.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK TEMPEST STARE. Witnessesz Y R. \V. CRARY,

E. D. SELTZER. 

